Truth for Sale - the sad irony about this book that no one noticed

The Irony of Selling Christian Exhortation

Hey, everyone. So, since Shepherds for Sale is a book on everyone's mind right now, I want to address the elephant in the room that no one else is talking about. But before I get to that, a couple things.

First, this is not a video made to join in with everyone who's hating on the author, Megan Basham, right now. And second, for those who may not know much about it yet, the subtitle of the book is How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda.

And John MacArthur endorsed it by saying, this may just be the single most important book on modern evangelicalism in recent years. It is bold, clear, and very well-researched. So, the book has become an instant New York Times bestseller.

And the Amazon description says that it documents how progressive power brokers set out to change the American church. Their goal? To co-opt evangelicals for political purposes. Shepherds for Sale is a warning of what happens when the church trusts the world's wisdom instead of Scripture.

Now, what no one is discussing is that the most ironic thing about this whole book is one simple fact. It's been put behind a paywall and locked down by copyright restrictions. In other words, Shepherds for Sale is Christian exhortation for sale.

The Paywall Undermines the Book's Message

And this isn't the first time this has happened. Rosaria Butterfield and Eric Metaxas both recently published similar kinds of helpful, important books. And everything I'm about to say applies to them and others like them.

But regardless of whether you like or dislike Shepherds for Sale, if even 1 of what she reports is true, then we have a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the American church. And everyone desperately needs to know the truth.

The bitter irony is that she's trying to expose the works of darkness by charging people money to find out how they're being deceived. Now, I admire Megan Basham for having the courage to confront the systemic evil and compromise she sees infiltrating the church.

And she has nothing short of a prophetic message to share. And much of what she's doing is fulfilling the role of an Old Testament prophet, calling a nation to repentance. She talks about how lies are slowly compromising American Christendom, often because of the power and influence of money.

Her writing is clearly a form of ministry seeking to edify the body of Christ through clear warnings to return to Scripture as its authority and to resist the pressure to be conformed to the pattern of this world.

But by charging for the book, she has undermined the purpose of writing the book, to reach as many people as possible with the truth, so that reform will result. What's more, by selling the book, she's in clear violation of Christ's command in Matthew 10 .8 and the wider teaching of Scripture.

Why Charging for Warnings Is Cruel and Illogical

And I want to make this clear before I go further. I think Megan is probably unaware of all of this. Like most people selling Jesus today, she's oblivious. And unfortunately, this adds yet another layer of irony.

She's pleading with Christians to turn from ignorance and naivety to no longer be deceived by progressive cultural seduction. And yet, she herself is a victim of a similar blind spot and deception. The lie that it's okay to sell ministry, that the best way to get the truth out is by charging money for it.

Let me be frank. From a purely pragmatic perspective, Megan's choice for how to spread her timely message is unintentionally cruel and illogical. Why? It's illogical to put a paywall between people and urgent warnings.

If you truly want to save people from imminent harm, you'll make sure they get access to your warning as quickly, effortlessly, and freely as possible. If you charge a fee before people can hear a tornado or fire warning, it implies that you don't truly want to save lives, nor do you have any real urgency in your heart.

This paywall is also cruel because it ensures that many people will suffer harm or death because they didn't hear the warning, especially the poor. Megan, by putting her book behind a paywall, has sealed painful consequences for many people.

Please hear me. Those who are the most vulnerable to these leftist agendas of our anti-Christian culture are often the least likely to pay for a book in order to find out how they're being seduced. Many who are deceived believe with all their hearts that they're walking in the truth.

They scoff at the idea of going out of their way to pay someone to tell them what lies they've fallen for. And ironically, Megan has contributed to the lies that harm evangelicals by believing and promoting a lie herself, the lie that Christian exhortation can be turned into merchandise.

A Freely Given Alternative for Publishing Ministry Content

What's even more tragic is that Megan, in my mind, genuinely has radically important things to say. Many Christians read her book and wish they could share it with hundreds of their friends who are flirting with apparels she describes, but they can neither convince their friends to buy it nor afford to buy a copy for everyone in their life who needs to hear the book's message.

And you know what's sad? In spite of this frustration, most believers slavishly accept all of this charging for ministry as normal and even defend it as the way things should be. So many people will remain deceived and unwarned while Megan and her publisher grow richer.

Megan, if you ever get to watch this, I want you to know that I believe you're sincere. Even though the sale of your book calls into question your sincerity, people will never know now for sure whether you just did this for the money because you knew it would sell well due to its provocative nature and because, you know, everyone loves a good expose so they can say, I told you so to their friends.

The lost world will look at your book and simply see a Christian profiting from rebuking other Christians. You know, the question is, would Isaiah or Jeremiah have put their warnings and exhortations behind a paywall?

Again, Megan, I want you to know that I don't believe you decided to sell your book with willfully sinful motives consciously trading truth for worldly gain. I think you were well-meaning like a lot of people in your book.

But in case it's not clear, let me just spell out how things could have been vastly different. How you could have actually accomplished your goal without being unintentionally cruel and illogical and without casting doubt on your sincerity.

So you were already a well-known journalist, so your book didn't entirely depend on the marketing machine of HarperCollins to reach a sizable audience that would then begin to spread the book organically and virally based on the importance of its message.

You could easily have set up a crowdfunding page for yourself and the book so that those who were grateful for it and understood its significance could donate to support you for the time invested and any marketing services you might have wanted to pay for.

You could simply have released the book as public domain, made it free digitally, and offered print-on-demand paperbacks at cost. Typesetting could have been provided by a highly affordable freelancer.

Legal advice could have been given by volunteer brothers and sisters in Christ or paid for by supporters. And the audiobook could have been released as a free podcast. And for maximum discovery, it could have been made into a short series of videos on YouTube that would lead people to a free download of the book for further detail.

Again, all costs involved could easily have been defrayed by the free generosity of God's people, just like thousands of missionaries are funded right now around the world. I've even written an exhaustive comprehensive guide on how to publish a book in a way that's truly freely given as Christ requires of all ministry content.

Grieving the Commodification of Truth

So, in conclusion, we at sellingjesus .org are grieving over the sale of exhortation, the commodification of truth, and the prioritization of profit over the dissemination of something vital to the church.

This was a missed opportunity, and we'll be praying for those who will be excluded from the message by the paywall and continue to walk in darkness. And let's pray that this is the last time someone tries to sound the alarm and inspire reform within the church by selling truth and exhortation.